Which U.S. cities are best for geeks looking to live long and prosper?
To mark Embrace Your Geekness Day on July 13, Lawn Love ranked 2023’s Geekiest Cities.
We compared the 200 biggest U.S. cities based on four categories. We looked at access to comic book stores, geek social groups, and Comic-Cons, among 13 total metrics.
See the 10 best (and 10 worst) cities for geeks below, followed by key stats from our report. |
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Best Cities for Geeks
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Rank
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City
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1
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New York, NY
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2
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Los Angeles, CA
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3
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San Antonio, TX
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4
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Chicago, IL
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5
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Las Vegas, NV
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6
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Austin, TX
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7
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Houston, TX
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8
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Atlanta, GA
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9
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Orlando, FL
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10
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Indianapolis, IN
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| Worst Cities for Geeks |
| Rank |
City |
| 1 |
Miramar, FL |
| 2 |
Brownsville, TX |
| 3 |
Palmdale, CA |
| 4 |
Grand Prairie, TX |
| 5 |
Olathe, KS |
| 6 |
North Las Vegas, NV |
| 7 |
West Valley City, UT |
| 8 |
Carrollton, TX |
| 9 |
Moreno Valley, CA |
| 10 |
McKinney, TX |
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Key insights:
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Magical metropolis: Once again, New York rules in first place with a whopping 25-point lead over our No. 2 city, Los Angeles. Gotham boasts the highest number of board game and trading card shops, comic book stores, costume stores, and geek Meetup groups.
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Gaming through Mission City: San Antonio (No. 3) is not just for history nerds. Alamo City claims the 3rd-highest number of board gameand trading card shops, after New York (No. 1) and Los Angeles (No. 2). SA is also home to 14 stores that host Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) events, the 2nd-highest in our ranking.
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Live, laugh, LARP: Atlanta (No. 8) is ideal for those looking to participate in Live Action Role Play (LARP), boasting the most publicly listed LARPing groups. From alien adventures to a galactic Victorian Gaslamp setting, geeks have plenty of opportunities to flex their creativity in A-Town.
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Small but mighty nerdy: The force is strong in Minneapolis (No. 11), Rochester, New York (No. 18), and Pittsburgh (No. 21), thanks to their passionate geek communities. All three cities enjoy public D&D groups. Minneapolis and Rochester also have Major League Quadball — formerly Major League Quidditch — teams (a new metric in 2023).
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Leveling up: Detroit (No. 37) impresses with the biggest power-up since our 2022 ranking, ascending 89 spots. Motor City saw an increase in geek Meetup groups and board game and trading card shops. It also got a boost from its Major League Quadball team.
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Fandom fun: Annual Comic-Con events attract thousands and benefit host cities by circulating millions of dollars through their local economies. 87 cities in our ranking host Comic-Cons, and 68 host Fan Cons. Atlanta (No. 8) holds the most Comic-Cons, while Orlando, Florida(No. 9), hosts the most Fan Cons.
Helpful links:
Please email john.schmidt@lawnlove.com with any questions you have about our study or if you would like to interview one of Lawn Love’s editors.
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